1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to coke oven quench cars that are used to receive coke as it is ejected from the coke side of a coke oven battery, then used to transport that coke, through a means of quenching, to a coke wharf where the coke is deposited for further processing and use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In known coke quenching cars, the hopper is large in volume, capable of handling up to twenty tons of coke. The hopper of such a car is pivotally mounted to the car frame, the points of pivotation being on both ends adjacent to the bottom corner, remote from the coke side of a coke oven. This corner is formed by the bottom and one side of the hopper. Thus the bottom corner generally defines the axis of pivotation. A means for pivoting the hopper about this axis operates to raise the hopper, the bottom of the hopper forming an inclined plane in the raised position.
A gate is pivotally mounted, by a hinge, to the side of the hopper. The gate forms the lower half of the hopper side when the hopper is not raised and is in its normal position. In the raised position, the gate is pivoted downward onto the coke wharf allowing the coke to descend the inclined plane, formed by the side of the hopper, onto the wharf. Once the car is emptied, the gate is closed and the hopper is lowered to its normal position.
Because of the positioning of the pivotation axis in relation to the pivotation arc, the bottom of the hopper must be positioned, in its normal lowered position, at an elevation higher than the elevation of the coke wharf to enable emptying of the coke onto the wharf. Thus the capacity of the hopper is limited. There is a need for a means of unloading coke quench cars which allows the hopper bottom to be at a lower elevation, thus enabling increase in the volumetric capacity of the hopper.
Another problem is that pivotation of the hopper significantly transfers the center of gravity of the load substantially off of the center of the car frame, creating a tendency to tilt the coke quench car. This tendency is overcome, in practice, by widening the car frame and its wheel base as well as the tracks upon which it rides. Thus more valuable space is required, as well as more expensive equipment, that would be if the system were not subject to a significant transfer of the center of gravity of the load. There is a need for a means of unloading a coke quench car which does not significantly transfer the center of gravity of the load.